The High School That Never Was
by theMENTALalchemist
Summary: Follow three freshman students of the Thirteenth Order High School through their first high school year as they face drama, romance, Vice Principal Saïx, and incredibly hard math classes. Warning: Shounen-ai, AU, and some OOC.
1. The First Morning of the First Day

"Allright!" Xigbar shouted as he watched the freshmen class walk through the tall, white double-doors of the Thirteenth Order High School. "New subjects to mess with!"

"Hey," Vice Principal Saïx snapped quickly. "Be nice, or you'll be repeating the twelfth grade yet again, Xigbar."

Once Saïx had turned his back, Xigbar flipped him off and continued on his way.

Among the freshmen class were Zexion, Demyx, and a new kid named Roxas.

Everyone greeted one another after being apart for the summer. Some of the older students (mainly sophomores) came to meet the ninth graders, or to say hi to the ones they already knew.

Lexaeus scanned the crowd and finally found his friend: a short, dark-haired kid with a backpack full of books.

"Welcome to high school," Lexaeus said as he greeted the boy. "You're going to _love_ it here."

"Thanks," Zexion laughed. "Right now, I'm just praying for survival through the first day."

Lexaeus took Zexion by the arm and dragged him off saying, "I'll show you around the building."

By then, Xigbar had returned scanning the crowd for a target now that Saïx wasn't around. He then spied a cute boy with dirty-blond hair and a guitar case in one hand. Xigbar waltzed up to the boy and made his presence known.

"The name's Xigbar," he said as the boy looked up at him with sea-green eyes. Xigbar then leaned in and kissed the boy on the lips. As he ended the kiss he whispered, "And don't you forget it." Xigbar then calmly walked away as if nothing had happened.

A blond, spikey-haired boy walked through the long hallways, confused and upset. He had only been here for ten minutes and he was already lost.

"Need some help?" A voice from behind him questioned. The boy spun around to face a taller boy whose bright-red hair was styled back into neat spikes.

"I'm Axel," the tall boy said, offering up his hand. The blond boy shook it.

"Uh… Roxas." He replied. Axel looked confused. "My name," he said. "It's Roxas."

Axel smiled and nodded. "Well Roxas," Axel said, still smiling. "You look rather lost. Let me see your schedule."

Roxas nodded and poked around in his pocket. He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Axel. Axel unfolded the paper and looked at it for a moment.

"Woah," Axel gawked at the paper, his green eyes wide with surprise. "You're taking all honors classes and tenth grade honors math?"

"Guess I'm kind of smart…" Roxas said, blushing slightly.

"'Kind of smart?' No, no, no. My friend, you are very smart." Axel replied He took another look at Roxas's schedule. "If you're so smart, what're you doing at a school like this?"

"I don't like to be treated as a 'gifted mind.' I'm a normal person, not a super genius." Roxas said.

Axel looked at the blond for a moment, then he began to laugh. "Okay, you see, only smart people talk like that," he giggled.

Roxas began to walk away with a scowl on his face, but Axel reappeared behind him and looped his arm over Roxas's shoulder.

"But good answer. I like you." Axel smiled at Roxas and Roxas smiled back.

Axel then cleared his throat and began talking again. "Welcome to the Thirteenth Order Preparatory School! My name is Axel and I'll be your tour guide today. Our first stop is the first floor science lab."

Roxas laughed and smiled widely at Axel. "I like you too." He said.

"well then, this is gonna be a fun year," Axel laughed as he led his new friends down the long hallway.


	2. Lunch

By lunchtime, Roxas had a small grasp of how things worked at the school. Axel had showed him around the campus that morning, and now the two were making their way to lunch.

"Now, Roxas," Axel said as the two gathered their lunch trays and scanned the room for a table to sit at. "The lunchroom is a very important place, because it's where you car really spot all the cliques in action. You need to know who you can talk with, and who you should really avoid. Like those guys, over there." Axel pointed to a table where three people were seated. There was a large, dark-headed man with dreadlocks, a bleached-blond man with multiple piercings on one ear, and a man with long hair and a scar on his cheek.

"Those are great guys. Xaldin;" he pointed to the one with the dreadlocks, "he's a total band geek, but he's really cool despite stereotypes. He plays a mean clarinet. Luxord;" next he pointed at the blond one, "he's a gambler and a rule breaker. But overall, he's a nice guy. One you'd want to have on your side in a fight. And finally, Xigbar;" Axel pointed at the last man, "Xigbar was supposed to graduate last year, but because of his recent 'bad streak' and terrible grades, he wasn't able to. If you don't know Xigbar, you're not from around here. He's famous for being sent to the V.P. Saïx's office the most in one semester. Saïx hates him."

Roxas looked at the table again and saw the three men looking at the pair. Xigbar raised a hand and waved Axel down. "Hey, Ax! Wanna bring your new friend and sit with us?" he asked.

"I'd love to guys, but I gotta show Roxas here the ropes. Maybe some other time." Axel replied.

"Well he's always welcome to sit with us, right?" Luxord said. Roxas then noticed his British accent.

"Yeah," Xaldin answered. "That is, if he wants to." Xaldin also had a slight accent to his speech.

"Uh, s-sure," Roxas replied shakily.

"Your first day and you're already making friends with sophomores and seniors!" Axel praised. Roxas laughed. "See you guys later!" Axel said goodbye to his friends and led Roxas to a different part of the lunchroom. "And now to show you those you shouldn't socialize with." This time, the red-head showed Roxas a table with only two people. One was blond and the other's hair was a pink-ish color. Roxas wasn't sure if the pink-headed one was female or not.

"That's Marluxia and Larxene. Larxene is the blond one, and the only girl at the table." Roxas's eyes widened. "I know, right?" Axel saw the younger boy's surprise. "Anyways, Larxene is Luxord's older sister. She always gets he way. Look up 'bitch' in the dictionary and you'll see he picture." At this, both boys laughed.

"The other is Marluxia," Axel continued. "What I say now, you need to remember for the rest of your life: do not, under any circumstances mess with Marluxia. It will get you into a shitload of trouble. Trust me on this, Roxas." Axel was silent for a moment before he continued. "Marluxia is a thespian. I have to admit, he's a good performer. But he's also a terrible person in general. I would advise you to not talk to him at all. He's graduating this year, so hopefully when he goes off to his theater college he'll stay well away from everyone."

Axel suddenly grabbed Roxas's arm and led him away, still holding his lunch tray in the other hand. "Let's get out of here, before he sees us." He said. Roxas still couldn't believe that Marluxia was a he.

Roxas then noticed someone sitting alone at a table. "Hey, Axel, who's that?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Vexen. He's supposed to be in my year, but he's such an overachiever that he skipped a grade. He's smarter than you, and you're pretty smart. He doesn't have many friends."

Roxas felt a little sorry for Vexen. Axel dragged him away again and sat him down at a large table with a few people seated there already.

"Okay, let's get the intros over with. Everyone, this is Roxas. He's new here. Roxas," Axel pointed at each person individually. First he pointed at a dirty-blond boy strumming busily at a guitar. "That's Demyx, an aspiring musician. Zexion is the one with his nose in the book and the emo haircut. They're both in your year."

Both boys smiled and waved at Roxas, who nervously waved back. Seated next to Zexion was a large man wearing a football jacket.

"That mountain is Lexaeus, the football team captain. He's in my year." Axel said.

Lexaeus laughed and smiled at Roxas. "Nice to meet you, Roxas," he said.

"L-likewise," Roxas replied nervously.

"Roxas, don't be intimidated by his size. He's a big softie on the inside." Axel laughed. "Hey, you're gonna want to eat fast. We have five minutes of lunch left."

"Thanks for taking up my whole lunch time, Axel," Roxas scoffed as he stuffed potato chips into his mouth.

"Yeah, sorry about that. At least you know where and where not to sit now." Axel replied, casually biting an apple.

"Id better go," Zexion announced as he stood up. "I've got to turn in some extra summer work I did for math." He then left to empty his lunch tray. Lexaeus followed him.

"Lex and Zexion are pretty much best friends," Axel said. "They've known each other for like, ever."

"Oh!" Roxas shouted as he realized something. "I have summer work too. I'd better get that taken care of. See ya later, Axel!" Roxas left the lunch table and followed Zexion and Lexaeus.

As he walked behind the two of them (they didn't seem to notice that he was there), he picked up on some of their conversation.

"I won't be here tomorrow," Lexaeus said.  
"Why not?" Zexion asked, grabbing his friend's hand.

Lexaeus became silent. He spoke so softly that Roxas wasn't able to make out his words.

"I'm sorry, Lex," was Zexion's reply. He held Lexaeus's hand tighter.

Roxas looked at the two of them. What was going on between them?


	3. A Letter From a Sibling

The rest of the day dragged by slowly for Roxas. He shared most of his classes with Zexion, and was in tenth grade advanced math with Xaldin and Luxord. Luxord always passed him notes written on playing cards, but Roxas couldn't read his handwriting.

At the end of the day, he walked slowly to his locker to pack up his things. He was beat. He could barely walk, the gym teacher had worked him so hard. Roxas was ready to give up and die right then. But when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Axel, he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

"So Roxas," Axel said as the two waited for their cars to arrive. Neither of them could drive yet, but Axel did have his learner's permit. "Wanna hang out this weekend? You could come to my place, or we could go, I don't know, to the mall, or something. Whaddya say?"

Axel was obviously excited about getting together with his new friend this coming weekend. And it was only Monday. And they had just met that morning. _What the heck,_ Roxas thought_. I know I'll have fun._

"Sure," Roxas replied. "We can talk more later though. We do have a while to plan something out."

"Okay!" Axel smiled.

It was then that Roxas spotted Zexion and Lexaeus holding hands again as they looked over something together.

"Hey, what's up with them?" Roxas asked. "Are they, you know… a couple?"

"I really don't know," Axel shook his head. "Every time I ask Lex about it, he changes the subject or denies it. It's possible though."

Just as Roxas was beginning to think, a car horn blasted him out of his thoughts. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw that his mother was waving him down from her car.

"I gotta go," Roxas said as he pulled his bag over his shoulder. "See ya tomorrow!"

"See ya, Roxas!" Axel called back, waving at him.

As soon as Roxas got home he noticed a letter on the table with his name on it. He immediately recognized the handwriting on the envelope.

"It's from Sora!" he announced. Roxas quickly snatched up the letter and retreated to his bedroom, firmly shutting the door behind him. He ripped open the letter and removed a slip of paper from inside.

Sora's handwriting was neat, unlike Luxord's, and easily readable. As he read the letter over, he could almost hear his brother's voice reading it aloud to him. The letter read:

_Dear Roxas,_

_Destiny Island is beautiful! I really wish you could be here with me. How's your school? Do you like it there? I think Riku has a brother in your grade. He's mentioned him a few times, but I can't remember his name now. Are you sure you didn't want to stay here with me and study at the high school here? I know you were feeling cramped and restricted on the island but I miss spending time with you. Will you come visit me, Riku and Kairi during your break? They miss you too. Maybe if you see the school you'll change your mind and come stay with me_ (**A/N- Destiny Island High, where Sora goes to school, is a boarding school**).

_Love you, bro!_

_Sora_

_P.S.- I've enclosed a few photos I took. Hope you enjoy them!_

Roxas sighed as he read the letter. He really did miss his brother. He looked around for the envelope and tipped it over once he had it in his hands. Three pictures fell out and Roxas quickly picked them up. One was of a sunset and palm trees with paopu fruit growing on them. Another was of the school itself (which looked rather impressive, Roxas had to admit). The last picture was of Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

The pictures were amazing. Sora was quite the photographer. Roxas walked to the other side of his room and pinned the pictures up on his small bulletin board on the back of his door.

Roxas, feeling lonely without his brother to talk to after school, suddenly became tired and bored. He laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling for a good ten minutes before his mother called him downstairs for dinner.

After dinner, Roxas quickly finished his homework and sat down with his dad to watch a little television before he headed upstairs to his room for a good night's sleep. He slept well, looking forward to seeing Axel tomorrow at school.


	4. Getting to Know Demyx

Zexion sleepily trudged up the stairs and into the school's opening hallway. He passed by Principal Xemnas's office and Vice Principal Saïx's office, and he walked by the empty trophy case.

Zexion finally reached his locker, slowly but surely entering his combination and undoing the lock. Just as he was about to open the locker door, something grabbed him from behind.

"Hey, Zexion!" the person who held him shouted.

"Hello, Demyx," the dark-haired boy replied. "Can you let me go, I need my books."

"'Kay." Demyx let go of his friend and watched him unpack his books.

"How can you have so much energy in the mornings?"

"I drink coffee."

"So do I, but it does nothing for me."

"Hey, where's Lex? Don't you two carpool, or something?"

"I don't know," Zexion lied. No one could know where Lexaeus was. He had trusted Zexion not to tell anyone.

"Oh, okay then," Demyx said. "Hey, can I copy your-"

Before Demyx could even finish speaking, Zexion hit him hard on the head with his advanced science textbook. "No," Zexion replied sharply, stuffing the textbook into his locker.

"But Zexion…"

"No, Demyx. If you want help, get a tutor."

"Will you tutor me?"

Zexion froze. The thought of being alone with Demyx made him blush a little. "Why me?" he asked.

"You're smart," Demyx said. "And I think you'd make a good teacher."

"I don't know, Demyx…"

"I'll pay you!" Demyx pleaded. "Ten dollars per session sound okay?"

Zexion didn't want to let his friend down. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Yay! Thanks, Zexy! You're the best!" Demyx grabbed Zexion and kissed him on the cheek. Zexion blushed heavily.

"H-hey! He shouted after Demyx. "D-don't call me Zexy!"

The morning dragged on slowly for Zexion. Every time he thought about Demyx kissing him on the cheek, he would hide his face in his folded arms so no one would see him blush. Vice Principal Saïx, who taught his history class, would hit Zexion on the head each time he did this, thinking that the dark-haired boy was dozing off.

Lunch finally came, and to Zexion's misfortune, Demyx followed him to their usual lunch table. Luckily, he wasn't left alone with the musician, as Axel and Roxas had decided to sit with them that day.

"So you two," Axel started the conversation. "Hear any good gossip lately?"

"Why do you care?" Demyx asked. "You've never been one for gossip."

"Yeah, but I'm bored," Axel replied with a mouthful of grilled cheese. "If there's nothing to talk about, then let's start something."

"You mean like, spread a rumor?" Zexion questioned.

"Exactly," Axel said.

"I have something to share…" Roxas piped up.

"Really, Roxas?" Axel asked. "Do tell."

"Well, as I was leaving school yesterday, I saw Marluxia-"

"What was he doing? Was he with anyone?"

"Shut up, Axel. We're trying to listen!" Demyx snapped.

"Continue, Roxas." Zexion prompted.

"Anyways, my mom was driving off, and I was in the passenger's seat. I saw Marluxia with Vexen behind the school-"

"Marluxia's a drug dealer! I knew it!"

"God, Axel! Shut up and let him finish!" Demyx hit Axel on the back. "Hurry up, before he explodes."

"He wasn't giving drugs to Vexen, they were… making out," Roxas continued. "And Vexen didn't look like he was enjoying himself. Like Marluxia was forcing Vexen to kiss him."

"Roxas, that's old news," Zexion said.

"Really?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, man. I shoulda known you were gonna say that," Demyx said as he took a bite of his food.

"Yeah, that's not a good rumor anyways. Vexen doesn't have friends, so that won't impact him… much." Axel scratched his head as he spoke. "Let's think of something really bad to spread about Marluxia… I like the drug dealing thing."

"No, that'll get him into too much trouble," Roxas said. "Plus, if he's as bad as you say he is, we're just stooping to his level."

"I guess your right," Axel said, standing up. "I'll be back, I need more food."

As soon as Axel was out of sight, Demyx slid over next to Roxas.

"So…" Demyx began. "Do you like him?"

"What? Who?" Roxas questioned.

"Axel, of course," Zexion said. "You're obviously getting close."

"Well, yeah, as a friend."

"No, I mean as more than a friend." Demyx continued. "Well?"

"No way! He's my friend!" Roxas exclaimed. How could he like Axel that much? He liked girls, anyways, not guys!

"Demyx, move back! He's coming!" Zexion warned.  
Demyx quickly swung back over to his seat just as Axel arrived.

"Why's it so quiet? What happened while I was gone?" Axel asked.

"Nothing! Nothing happened!" Demyx couldn't help but smile.

_You idiot…_ Zexion thought, mentally face-palming himself.

Lunch ended after more talking among friends, and everyone parted ways for afternoon classes. The rest of the day move on faster than the morning had for Zexion. He and Roxas had worked together in advanced science and gotten extra credit for their outstanding work. _It pays to be smart,_ Zexion thought with a smile as he headed to his last class of the day. He was in a regular ninth grade math this year, and unfortunately, Demyx just so happened to be in the class with him.

Every few minutes, he would glance at the dirty-blond and pretend to be checking the time since Demyx sat near the only clock in the room.

After what seemed like hours, math class ended and Zexion left the room as quickly as he could. He took his time packing up his bag. He would be picked up late today, so he had time to kill. After most people had gone, Zexion wandered through the hallway.

Suddenly, a sound hit his ears. It sounded something like the strumming of an acoustic guitar. Curious, Zexion followed the sound, and sure enough, he found Demyx sitting alone in a room with a guitar on his lap. Zexion stood in the doorway and watched him for a minute, a smile growing on his face.

Suddenly, Demyx looked up and saw him. Zexion's heart raced as he Demyx motioned for Zexion to sit next to him.

"Like it?" Demyx asked. "Just a little something I formulated during the last class."

Zexion laughed. "What're you still doing here?" he asked. "Don't you usually leave right after the last bell rings?"

"Yeah, but I gotta wait for Axel, he's finishing up some work for a teacher."

"Why do you have to wait for him?"

"He's my brother."

Zexion was shocked. "You two are related?"

"Well, not by blood. I don't have any blood relatives."

"What do you mean?"

Demyx set his guitar down in its case and cleared his throat before speaking. "When I was little, like, nine years old, I lost both of my parents to a house fire. I was put into an orphanage and adopted by Axel's parents."

"I-I had no idea…" Zexion stammered.

"Yeah, it's hard to deal with sometimes," Demyx teared up a bit. "But I'm okay." He smiled widely, and Zexion smiled back.

"Demyx!" someone shouted from out in the hallway. "Let's go!"

"That's Axel. I better go," Demyx said as he gathered up his stuff.

"Hey, Demyx," Zexion stopped the blond from leaving. "When do you want to start tutoring?"

"How about tomorrow after school in the library?" He asked. "You can come help me every other day after that."

"Okay, sound good."

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye."

Demyx ran out into the hallway and Zexion watched as he left with his brother. Zexion sighed, remembering his own older brother. _I wish he'd write me sometime,_ he thought. _I wonder how he is._


	5. Marly's Entrance

"So Lex isn't here today either?" Demyx asked, sipping on a Heartbucks coffee.

"Yeah, he told me he wasn't feeling too good yesterday, so he's sleeping in and he's gonna try to come in later today." Zexion replied as he followed his morning routine: talking with Demyx as he readied himself for his classes.

"Did he tell you where he was yesterday?"

"No," Zexion lied again.

"Maybe he'll tell me later today if I ask him."

"Hey, can I have a sip of that? I'm really tired and watching you drink that is making me really thirsty."

"Yeah sure," Demyx laughed as he handed his coffee to his friend.

Zexion took a sip and felt slightly better. "That's really good. What is it?"

"My own secret blend," Demyx replied. "I'm planning on working at Heartbucks this summer 'cause if I don't get a job, my dad says he's gonna give me one. And I don't want to do any kind of work he has in mind for me."

"What kind of work would that be?"

"Taking me to the nearest fast food place and making me work there. And you know how much I hate fast food."

"Ouch, that sucks."

"Yeah, I know!" Demyx scowled for a moment before his eyes wandered to the front door. "Oh, look, Roxas is here. I'll be right back."

_What's he up to?_ Zexion wondered as he watched Demyx walk away.

"Hey, Roxas," Demyx greeted the blond. "How'd you enjoy out chat last night?"

"What chat?" Zexion asked as he joined them.

"I had a talk with Roxas about-"

"Leave me alone," Roxas pushed his way past Demyx as headed straight for his locker.

Demyx was about to go after him but Zexion held him back. "He's obviously not in the mood to talk. I'd advise you not to follow him. I wonder what has him so worked up?"

"I think I might know…" Demyx murmured.

"You're responsible for his foul mood?"

"Guilty!"

"What did you do?"

"I had a talk with him last night over text message," Demyx began. "It was about Axel."

"Not this again."

"Well he obviously likes him! He just won't admit it!"

"What about Axel? Do you know how he feels?"

"Not really…"

"Well then maybe you should have a chat with him about this."

"Yeah, I guess your right."

"Well, well, what's this I hear?" a voice asked from behind the two boys. They spun around only to face the one and only Marluxia.

"The new boy likes Axel?" Marluxia continued, flipping his pink, glossy hair around.

"Just about as much as Vexen likes you getting close to him," Zexion snapped back.

"Yeah, so get lost, pretty boy!" Demyx yelled.

"Fine then, I'll leave," Marluxia turned to go, but he quickly spun around again. "But not before I insult your fashion sense. Really, emo boy? Those shoes with that top? Are you out of your mind?"

The pink-haired man left the two boys standing in the middle of the hallway, mouths hanging agape.

"This looked fine when I put it on this morning…" Zexion muttered, tugging at his shirt.

"You look fine," Demyx reassured him as the bell rang. "Come on, classes are gonna start soon."

"Thanks, Demyx," Zexion smiled as he gathered his things.

"Always here to help my friends," he smiled back.

"You'd tell me if this looked horrible anyways, right?"

"Of course I would!"

The two of them laughed as they walked to homeroom, forgetting for a moment that Marluxia even existed.

"Urg, is the weekend here yet?" Axel groaned as he walked to lunch with Roxas.

"We only have the rest of the afternoon, you can make it," he said, giving his friend a pat on the back. "Besides, tomorrow we're gonna hang out, right?"

"Yeah! I'm super pumped! We're gonna have fun!"

"I bet we will," Roxas laughed. He pulled a playing card out of his pocket that had something written on it. "Hey, Luxord keeps passing notes to me in math class and I can never read his handwriting. Do you know what this says?"

Axel looked the writing over for a moment. "No clue."

The two sat with Xigbar and the others today, giving Roxas a chance to confront Luxord about his terrible handwriting.

"I'm serious, she totally overreacted!" Xigbar was shouting about something as the two approached the table to sit.

"What's going on?" Axel asked.

"I set a bucket of water on top of the door so it would spill on the teacher when she walked in." Xigbar explained.

"Did it work?"

"Of course it did, dude! She was wearing a white shirt too!"

"Awesome!" Axel high-fived Xigbar and everybody laughed.

"Hey, Luxord," Roxas said as he pulled the playing card out of his pocket. "If you're gonna pass notes to me in class, make sure I can read your handwriting first."

"Sorry," Luxord replied, taking the card back. "I'll work on that."

"Like your handwriting will ever get better," Xaldin added. "It's been that way since we first started writing in grade school! The teacher was always handin' back papers and yelling at you tellin' you she couldn't read your writing."

"You two have been in the same class for that long?"

"Yeah." Xaldin replied.

"I've known these two since fifth grade," Axel said.

"What about you, Xigbar?" Roxas asked.

"Just since last year," Xigbar said.  
"And we've only known Roxas for a week, and he's already a good friend," Luxord said with a mouthful of food.

"It took us a few months before we warmed up to Xigabar," Axel whispered to Roxas.

"Hey, I heard that!" Xigbar yelled, punching Axel softly in the arm.

Roxas couldn't help but laugh a little. He remembered how lost he felt on his first morning and how Axel had showed him the ropes and really helped him get a hang of things. After lunch that day, he was really looking forward to hanging out with Axel tomorrow.


	6. Our Time Together

"Zexion, I don't understand this!" Demyx cried. "Help me, Zexy!"

"Okay Demyx," Zexion put his hand on Demyx's shoulder. "You can do this. And stop calling me Zexy!"

"Okay," the dirty-blond sniffed. "Could you show me the formula one more time?"

"Sure." Zexion flipped to a page in his textbook and found the quadratic formula on the page. "The quadratic formula is x equals negative b plus and minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac all over 2a."

"Okay, I think I got this." Demyx scribbled on his paper for a minute, then looked up at Zexion with wide eyes. "I'm stuck."

"Okay, let me see your work so far." Zexion said. Demyx showed him the paper and Zexion looked it over. "Your work is great up to here. What do you think you need to do now?"

"Take the square root?"

"Of which number?"

"189?"

"Good. Keep going."

Demyx worked on for another minute before he pushed his paper over to Zexion. "Done," he said nervously.

Zexion quickly looked over his work and smiled. "Congratulations, Demyx," he said. "You got it right."

"I did? I got it right? I actually got the answer right!" Demyx yelled. "I can't believe I actually did it! I love you, Zexy! You're the best!" Demyx suddenly grabbed Zexion's face and pulled him into a kiss.

At that moment, Lexaeus walked in. "Zexion, I'm here to pick you up," he called. Lexaeus then noticed Zexion and Demyx kissing. The football player suddenly dropped his car keys and ran out of the room.

Zexion pulled away from Demyx, who then realized what he had just done.

"Zexion, I'm sorry, I-"

But Zexion was already gone, running after his other friend. He searched for a few minutes before he found Lexaeus in the boys' locker room in the gym.

"Hey, Lex what's wr-" he began, only to be cut off.

"Shut up, cheater," Lexaeus murmured.

"Lexaeus, what are you talking about?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't understand why you're so upset!"

"Because I thought you liked me!"

"As a friend, yeah, but nothing more than that."

"You sure didn't act that way."

"Look, I'm sorry if things aren't the way they were over the summer," Zexion began. "I know we really liked each other and I know we almost kissed a time or two. But I… I lost that kind of feeling towards you. I just want to be friends now."

Lexaeus barged out of the locker room and out to the parking lot. "In that case, we're not friends anymore. You can find another ride home." Lexaeus climbed into his car and drove away quickly, leaving Zexion behind.

Zexion was about to break down when he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked up into the soft, sea-green eyes of Demyx.

"I'm sorry, Zexion," the dirty-blone muttered. "This is my fault. It's my fault he's mad at you now-"

Zexion quickly cut his friend off by placing a hand over his mouth. "Noting is your fault, Demyx. It's mine. I'm just stupid, and I'm a bad friend, an-"

Demyx quickly cut Zexion off with another kiss. He then pulled the short boy into a tight embrace and whispered, "You're none of those things, Zexion. You're a wonderful person with so many amazing qualities. And… I love every one of your qualities. Good and bad."

Zexion buried his face in Demyx's shirt and held him close.

"I'll call Axel and have him come pick us up, okay?" Demyx asked softly.

"Mrrf," Zexion's reply was muffled by the fabric of Demyx's shirt.

"I'll take that as a yes." With that, Demyx pulled out his phone and dialed Axel's number.

Axel arrived in his sleek black car and Demyx opened up the back seat door, ushering Zexion in. Demyx slid in beside him.

Axel drove to Zexion's house to drop him off. When they got there, Demyx walked him to the door and gave him one last kiss before getting back into Axel's car. Zexion waved goodbye from his front porch, then turned to the door and unlocked it with his spare key before disappearing inside.

As they drove home, Axel decided to start a conversation. "So, your first kiss was with Zexion, eh?"

Demyx was silent for a moment before replying, "No, not exactly."

"What do you mean 'not exactly?'"

"It was Xigbar."

"Huh? Dem, I'm lost."

"On the first day, Xigbar came up to me and kissed me…"

"Sounds like something he'd do," Axel laughed, making Demyx laugh a little too.

"Hey, Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Fire away, little bro."

"Do you like Roxas?"

"Well, yeah, as a friend."

Demyx laughed. "He said the exact same thing."

As Axel stopped at a stop sign, he looked at Demyx. "Really?"

"Yeah. Hey, you'd better move, the driver behind us looks angry."

"Oh, sorry."

It became silent, and Demyx began to think that maybe it was time to change the subject.

"So, do you know where Lexaeus has been? He hasn't been around recently. He just showed up today."

"You don't know?" Axel said. "His dad is sick in the hospital with cancer and hasn't been doing really well. A few members on Lex's dad's side of the family have had it too, so his mom is worried that he might get it later on."

"Oh," Demyx murmured, looking out his window. _Poor guy,_ he thought. _What happened a while ago must have just made things worse for him._

As they pulled into the driveway of their house and got out of the car, Demyx said with a laugh, "You do know that Mom and Dad are gonna freak when they find out you were driving without one of them in the car. You don't exactly have your license yet."

"Yeah. That's why I did it. Does the name 'Axel' strike you as someone who would follow the rules, Dem?"

Demyx laughed. "No, Axel."

"Exactly."

"So you gonna have Roxas over tomorrow?" Demyx asked as he unlocked the front door. Lucky for Axel, their parents weren't home yet. They both worked and usually came home around dinnertime on weekdays.

"Yeah." Axel answered, stepping inside the house.

"Can I hang out with you guys?"

"We're going to the mall first. When we get home, we can play video games together, okay?"

"'Kay."

Axel raced upstairs to his room and closed the door behind him. He then began shoving dirty clothes on the floor into his dresser drawers and throwing shoes into his closet. He straightened up his shelves and made his bed. Things needed to at least look acceptable when he brought Roxas over tomorrow.


	7. A Day With Axel

Roxas sat down at his desk with a yawn. It was early on Saturday morning and he had decided to use this time after breakfast to respond to Sora's letter. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. For a moment, he stared at the blank page, wondering what to write. He finally out his oen to the paper and scribble some words down, then sat back and read what he had wrote.

_Dear Sora,_

_I like it at my new school. I have a few friends; some of them are freshmen and sophomores and one is a senior. I think my best friend is Axel, though. He showed me around when I was lost on my first day and he told me all about the people at school. Destiny Island is just as beautiful as I remember it, but I'm glad that I chose to leave. I know you were upset about the move, and that's why you stayed, but I was excited and I think I made the right choice. Tell Riku and Kairi I miss them and I will visit during my break. Would it be alright if I brought a friend with me?_

_Miss you tons!_

_Your little bro, Roxas_

Roxas looked over how he had written 'your little bro' when he was only younger by mere minutes. Neither he nor Sora liked being called twins since they didn't look that much alike.

He read the letter over and over, and when he looked at the clock, it was almost noon. Axel would be here soon to pick him up, and he wasn't even dressed yet. Roxas quickly ran to his closet and picked out a white shirt and threw on a black and white checkered jacket over that. He put on a pair of black jeans and his sneakers. Just as he was putting his wallet and cell phone into his pockets, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" he yelled, racing down the stairs to open the door.

There stood Axel, dressed in a black shirt with a red design, black pants, and red Converse shoes. From both his ears hung two small black hoop earrings.

"Hey," he said waving a hand. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Roxas replied with a smile. "Mom! I'm leaving!"

"Okay!" his mother yelled back. "See you later!"

"Bye!" he shouted as he shut the door and climbed into the back seat of the car. Axel's mother was dropping the two off at the mall and picking them up later.

As they arrived at the mall, Axel's mom handed him some cash and told them that they needed to stay together at all times. They said goodbye and Roxas thanked her for the ride and the two made their way inside.

"So, Roxas," Axel began. "Where do you want to go first?"

Roxas looked around and saw exactly what they need to do first. "The photo booth." He announced.

"What?" Axed asked.

"The photo booth!" Roxas repeated. "We should go take our picture."

"Yeah, okay," Axel smiled and the two walked to the photo booth together. "Okay, how do we work this thing…"

"Put the money in first, then we pick what we want and take pictures."

"You've done this before?"

"Yeah, with my brother. What about you?" Roxas said, climbing into the booth and looking through various photo options.

"No, not really. Wait did you say brother?"

"Axel smile! The picture!"

"Oh!" Axel exclaimed, flashing a quick smile at the camera.

The two posed for each picture. They took four pictures and waited a few minutes for the pictures to come out.

"So, you have a brother too?" Axel asked.

"Yeah," Roxas replied. " His name is Sora. He goes to Destiny Island High. It's a boarding school. My family used to live on Destiny Island. But we decided to move here and Sora wanted to stay there, so our parents put him in the boarding school."

"Oh. Do you miss him?"

"Yeah, from time to time. Oh, here are the pictures." Roxas pulled the pictures out of a slot in the side of the booth. The two laughed at how ridiculous they thought they looked before moving on to the rest of the mall.

They stopped by Hearbucks and got coffee, then went to teen clothing stores and browsed around a little.  
"Hey, Roxas, let's go _girl shopping_." Axel suggested.

"What?"

"You know, we sit down somewhere and point out cute girls to each other."

"I've never done that before."

"I come here and do it with Demyx all the time! It's fun, 'til you get caught and the girl gets angry and slaps you."

Roxas laughed and Axel joined in. "In that case, I'd rather not play." Roxas giggled

"Yeah me neither." Axel replied with a laugh.

They laughed and drank coffee until Axel's mom called to tell the boys that she was there to pick them up. When they arrived at Axel's house, Axel led Roxas upstairs to the entertainment room of the house. Demyx was sitting in a bean bag chair and mashing buttons on a game controller while shouting curse words at the T.V.

"Demyx," Axel called. "Look who's here!"

Demyx turned around, now ignoring the game out of frustration. "Hey!" he yelled. "Roxas!"

"Hey, Demyx!" Roxas replied.

"Come play, Roxas!" Demyx beckoned the blond over to another chair. Roxas sat and took an extra controller. Axel sat beside him and did the same.

They played for a few minutes and, despite knowing the game they were playing rather well, Roxas lost every time. He put the controller down and looked around the room before spotting a drum set in the corner. He stood up and walked over to it, admiring the condition is was in. He brushed away a little dust on the cymbals, then sat down and picked up the sticks.

"You play drums, Roxas?" Axel asked, flowing the blond over to the set.

"A little bit," he replied. "I just started when we moved here."

"Coooool!" Demyx exclaimed. "I'll be right back!" Demyx was gone for mere moments before he returned with a guitar. "One, two, three, hit it!"

Roxas played some erratic beat while Demyx strummed sporadically and Axel sand random vocals. They laughed loudly and decided to stop playing before someone heard their horrible rhythm.

"Come here," Axel said, grabbing Roxas's hand and dragging him away. "I want to show you something." He led the blond to his room and locked the door behind them. Axel walked to a corner of his room and removed an acoustic guitar from its stand. He then sat on his bed and Roxas stood by the door and watched Axel play a beautiful melody.

"What is that?" Roxas asked. "Did you come up with that?"

"Yeah," Axel replied with a smile. "Wanna hear the vocals with the guitar?"

"Yeah!"

Azel sang, Roxas had to admit it, like an angel. His guitar playing was beautiful. All he could do was watch and smile.

When he finished, Axel looked at Roxas. "You wanna try?" he asked. "Come sit." Axel motioned for Roxas to sit on his lap. Without thinking, Roxas moved and sat with Axel on the bed.

Axel placed the guitar in Roxas's lap and showed him how to place his hands on the neck of the instrument. "Now strum," Axel whispered in his ear. Roxas strummed. "Keep going." The redhead prompted. Roxas strummed more.

"Am I getting it right?" Roxas looked up at Axel with a smile.

"Yeah," Axel replied quietly. "You are." Axel suddenly leaned in and kissed Roxas on the lips. Axel's lips were soft and Roxas felt his face begin to burn with embarrassment. Why did being around Axel make him feel like this? _Do I really like Axel?_ Roxas thought as he closed his eyes and accepted the kiss. _Maybe I really do like him…_

Axel pulled his lips from Roxas's. "Does this make you feel uncomfortable?" he asked softly.

"No…" Roxas replied, his voice barely audible. He looked up into Axel's shining green eyes.

"Do you want me to do it again?" Axel asked quietly, admiring Roxas's blue eyes. _He looks really cute right now,_ Axel admitted to himself.

"Yeah…" Roxas whispered. So Axel did, only this time more gently. Roxas kissed back this time, enjoying the moment they had together.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted that moment.

"Roxas!" a voice called from the other side. It was Demyx. "Your mom's here to get you."

"O-okay! I'll be down in a minute!" he called back. "Well, I guess I gotta-"

Roxas was cut off when Axel wrapped him in a tight hug. Axel released the blond and quickly kissed him one more time. "Bye, Roxas," the redhead whispered.

"Bye, Axel," the blond whispered back before exiting the room and leaving Axel alone.


	8. Xigbar's Halloween Party

"Look at him," Axel sighed. "He's become a second Vexen." Roxas looked to where Axel's gaze was and saw Lexaeus sitting alone, yet again. He had been like this for the past week, and everyone was beginning to worry about him… everyone except for Zexion.

"Just leave him be," Zexion scowled. "He's obviously in a bad mood. He always is." The dark-haired boy sat down at their usual table next to Demyx and smiled at the dirty-blond musician, who smiled back. Roxas shrugged and followed him to the table.

"So, did you guys hear?" Demyx asked excitedly.

"Hear what?" Roxas asked, munching on French fries.

"Xigbar's holding the annual Halloween party at his house!"

"Really?" Zexion questioned as he flipped through a book he had with him.

"He never told me that!" Axel exclaimed. "How do you know?"

"I heard him telling Luxord and Xaldin about it. I guess he wanted to surprise some people." Demyx replied.

"If it's at Xiggy's hose this year, it'll be an awesome party!" Axel said. "His parents are like, never home. This. Is. Awesome!"

"Sound fun," Roxas said.

"Maybe we should go," Zexion added.

"Hell yes we're going!" Axel hissed.

"Sounds like a plan!" Demyx laughed.

"I am so stoked!"

"We get it, Axel." Zexion hit Axel with his book and Axel piped down for a while.

The week rolled on and finally, it was Friday. Zexion and Demyx were taking just about the hardest math test they had ever taken.

"Students," said Principal Xemnas, who taught the ninth grade math class. "Put your pencils down, the test is over."

The final bell then rang, and the students packed up to go home for the weekend.

"Geez!" Demyx exclaimed as he stretched his arms up. "I studied my ass off for that test."

"No you didn't," Axel said. "I heard you playing your guitar in your room when mom told you to go study."

"Yeah, you're right," Demyx admitted as everyone else laughed at him.

"So, the party's at nine?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, and it goes until midnight," Zexion replied. "Is it a costume party?"

"Not this year," Demyx replied. "We can all get together on the actual Hallows Eve and dress up, though."

"That'd be fun," Axel said. "Who says we're too old for trick or treating?"

"Yeah!" Demyx yelled. "Free candy is awesome!"  
"Not that you need the loads of sugar," Zexion laughed.

The hours ticked by on the clock and finally it was time for the party to start. When Zexion arrived, Xaldin, Luxord, Axel, and Demyx were already there.

"Hey, Zexion," Axel greeted the dark-haired boy. "Xigbar went out to get something… who knows what he'll come back with. Oh, and Lex is sitting outside by himself."

"Okay," Zexion said. He made his way to the back door and went outside, thinking that this was as good a time to apologize for being a jerk.

"Hey, Lexaeus," he said, taking a seat next to the brunette on a bench.

"What do you want?" Lexaeus replied, not looking at Zexion.

"I… I want to say I'm sorry," Zexion said. "I'm sorry for being a jerk. I was worse than a jerk. I should've told you how I felt earlier, and… I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."

Lexaeus was silent.

"Can you forgive me?" Zexion asked.

"Yeah," Lexaeus replied quietly. "But I'm not ready to be friends again." He stood up and as he opened the door to go inside he said, "I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Zexion said. "See ya." Now, he didn't feel like partying. He decided that he would just sit for a while. He needed to think.

By the time Roxas showed up, everyone was at the party except for Larxene, and apparently Lexaeus left within the first ten minutes.

"I heard that Larxene knew the party was gonna be lame, so she decided not to come," Axel told him. "We wouldn't want her here anyways, she ruins everything."

"Where's Xigbar?" Roxas asked. "Isn't this his house?"

"Yeah, he went out to get something," Axel replied. "At least that's what Luxord told me."

As if he heard his name being spoken, Xigbar burst through the door and yelled, "Hey everyone! I've got beer!"

At this, a few people cheered. Axel sighed and shook his head. "Great, now he's gonna get everyone smashed."

"You gonna have any?" Roxas questioned.

"Nah, I know better. I'll stick with my soda." Axel took a drink from his cup. Nothing had changed between the two since their kiss at Axel's house.

As Roxas chatted with Axel and Demyx joined their conversation, the party was going on in the backround. Moments later, anyone who had touched the alcohol had become drunk. Under the influence, Luxord began making out with Xaldin, Marluxia looked like he was about to pass out, and Xigbar was stumbling around, knocking things over.

Zexion could tell what was going on inside just by the sounds that he could hear. The door behind him suddenly opened and Axel made his way outside.

Axel approached Zexion and began violently shaking him by the shoulders yelling, "Zexion you need to come inside right now! Zexion get inside the house! HURRY! It's urgent!"

Zexion lightly pushed Axel off of him and ran inside. What he saw before him made his blood boil.

Xigbar was kissing Demyx. Zexion's Demyx.

Zexion ran up to the two and pushed Xigbar away. "What the hell are you doing?" he yelled. He was angry. He was _beyond_ angry; Zexion was _furious_.

"Making out witha cute boy, whatdoes it look like?" Xigbar slurred. He was obviously very drunk. "Doesit bother you?"

"M-maybe," Zexion stammered.

"I'll takethat as a no," Xigbar replied as he went towards Demyx again.

"DON'T-!" Zexion yelled loudly, shoving Xigbar to the ground.

Xigbar stood up and removed a knife from his pocket. "Oh, you've doneit now, emoboy," he said as he switched open the blade. "I'm gonna kickyour ass!"

Xigbar charged at Zexion and began slashing violently. Zexion held his arms in front of his face and made small yelps each time Xigbar made cuts on his arms. He sounded like a puppy being kicked. Finally, Xigbar had had it. He threw the knife down and kicked Zexion on his side. Hard.

Zexion flew a short distance before he landed with a thud.

"Z-Zexion?" Demyx knelt next to the dark-haired boy and shook him a little. Zexion moaned and then stopped moving.

"S-someone call 911!" Demyx yelled.

"I'm on it!" Roxas replied, pulling out his phone.

"This has got to be the worst party ever," Axel said somberly. "I hope the kid's gonna be okay."

"Hey, everyone!" Marluxia was standing on top of a table, ready to make some kind of drunken announcement.

"Axel likes the new kid!"


	9. Looking for Roxas

"What?" Axel hissed as everyone gasped at Marluxia's sudden announcement.

"Yeah!" Marluxia yelled. "It's tru-" Marluxia began to cough, then he gagged some, and finally threw up from drinking too much. He then climbed off the table he was perched on and fainted, landing face-down on the floor

It then became completely silent; no one said anything. All eyes were on Axel and Roxas. Roxas began to fret, and he finally turned and ran out the door.

"Wait, Roxas!" Axel yelled, running after him. _I can't believe I let him screw up my life again!_ Axel thought as he ran, tears beginning to stream from the corners of his eyes.

"Roxas!" Axel called out, looking for the blond boy. He was beginning to worry. "ROXAS!"

Back at Xigbar's house, the ambulance had finally arrived to get Zexion. Demyx hopped in the vehicle with the dark-haired boy and the medics.

"It's gonna be okay, Zexy," Demyx whispered to Zexion. "You're gonna be okay."

Axel sat alone in the dark, frustrated and crying. He hadn't bawled like this since he and Demyx had seen a scary movie and he had woken up with a nightmare. Axel had been ten when that happened. He was now almost sixteen years old, about to start driving, going to parties with seniors, and he was crying like a baby. Not because of Marluxia, but because he couldn't find Roxas. He'd lost sight of the blond when he'd turned a corner, and now Axel couldn't see him anywhere.

His phone suddenly rang, and he picked it up after noticing it was Demyx calling.

"Hello?" the redhead sniffed. He dried his eyes on his sleeves a bit.

"Hey, Ax," Demyx answered. "I just got to the hospital with Zexion. They're wrapping up his arms and they're gonna do an x-ray in a minute. Hey, are you okay? Did you find Roxas?"

Axel was silent.

"I guess not," Demyx sighed. "Do you want me to come help you? Where are you?"

"No, Demyx, I'm okay, really."

"Axel, I can tell that you've been crying."

"Look, I'm okay," Axel said. "I'm gonna go look around for Roxas. Talk to you later."

"Okay," Demyx said reluctantly. "Bye."

Axel hung up on his brother and put his phone back in his pocket. He walked a little, then ran some, and then broke into a desperate sprint.

"ROXAS!" He yelled out. "ROXAS! WHERE ARE YOU?" He suddenly stopped running to think. Axel then had a thought about where Roxas might be. "Maybe, just maybe," he whispered to himself before he began running again.

Axel ran through a parking lot and entered through the doors of the mall, and there it was: the large photo booth. He walked up to it cautiously, and listened closely. Sniffles and sobs could be heard coming from inside. Axel slowly opened the curtain and poked his head inside.

"R-Roxas?" he whispered. Curled up on the bench inside the booth was the blond, his face wet with salty, hot tears.

"Axel!" he replied, throwing his arms around the redhead's neck. "I-I-I…"

"Shh," Axel silenced him, weaving his own arms around the blonde's waist. "It's okay now."

"I was scared, Axel. I didn't know what to do so…"

"You ran," Axel said.

"I'm sorry!" Roxas cried, hugging Axel tighter.

"I know," Axel whispered. "I forgive you." He gently kissed Roxas on the forehead.

"Is it true?" Roxas whimpered. "Do you really like me?"

Axel smiled. "Yeah, it's true. I like you."

"I like you too."

Axel's reply was a soft kiss on Roxas's lips. He could taste the salty tears that had rolled down Roxas's face.

Axel ended their gentle kiss and led Roxas out of the photo booth. "Wanna spend the night at my place?" Axel asked as the two walked to his house. "I can blow up the air mattress for you."

Roxas only nodded.

"You can borrow something to wear if you need to," the redhead added. "Oh! Want me to call Demyx and see how Zexion is?"

"Sure," Roxas responded quietly.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"If you're sure…" Axel said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Demyx's number. "Hey Dem, how's Zexion?"

"He's okay," Demyx replied. Axel had him on speakerphone. "He's sleeping right now. He has a few broken ribs and his arm is all bruised up from where he fell on it. Poor guy's gonna be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. Did you find Roxas yet?"

"I have him right here with me," Axel responded with a smile. He grabbed Roxas's hand. Roxas held on to it tight and smiled back. "We're gonna go home. Roxas is going to spend the night with us."

"No, he's gonna be spending the night with you. I'm staying with Zexy tonight."

"You sure?" Axel asked.

"Yeah," Demyx replied. "I'm sure."

"Okay. I'm gonna let Roxas borrow some of your pajamas. They'll fit him better than mine would."

"Alright," Demyx said. "I'll see you later, Ax."

"Bye, Dem," Axel said. He put his phone back in his pocket and walked home with Roxas.

When they got back to Axel's house, Roxas called his mom and said that he'd be spending the night with a friend. By the time he got off the phone, Axel had some pajamas set out for him.

"Try those on," Axel said, motioning towards his bathroom. He was wearing a red tank top and black sweatpants with flames on the legs. "I'm gonna get the air mattress."

Roxas went into the bathroom and tried the clothes on. Axel had given him a white t-shirt and blue sweatpants. They fit Roxas rather well, despite Demyx being a bit larger than him. He left the bathroom and found Axel beginning to blow up the mattress.

"Those fit okay?" he asked. "They're kind of small for Demyx, so I thought they'd be good for you."

"Yeah," Roxas replied. "They fit well."

"Good," Axel said, tossing Roxas a pillow and a blanket. "It's only eleven o'clock. What do you want to do?"

_It kinda sucks that the party had to end early,_ Roxas thought. _But it's probably best that it did. _"How about we watch a movie? Or we could play a game?" he suggested.

"I'm not up for a movie now, and games are more fun when you have more people," Axel said. "How about we just talk?"

"Okay, Roxas replied.

"I'm gonna go get us some snacks, be right back." When Axel returned, he had a large bowl of popcorn, crackers, spray cheese, cereal, and candy. "This was all I could carry," he said, dropping his load between the two of them. They sat across from each other on the floor of Axel's room.

"Oh this is fine," Roxas said with a smile, grabbing the box of cereal and stuffing his face. He hadn't eaten anything at the party, so he was hungry.

"Great!" Axel replied with a smile. He grabbed a handful of popcorn and began munching on it.

"Axel, can I ask you something?" Roxas ventured.

"Sure," Axel replied with a mouthful of food.

"Why do you hate Marluxia so much?"

Axel stopped eating. "What?"

"I said, why do you hate Marluxia so much?"

Axel swallowed. He sighed and shook his head. "I don't think you want to know…" he said.

"Axel," Roxas said sternly. "If we're going to be friends, or best friends, or more than friends, we need to be truthful to each other. I feel like I can't trust you if you dismiss this. I want to know."

Axel sighed again. "Alright," he began. "I'll tell you."


	10. Background Story

Axel cleared his throat and began speaking. "Last year, my freshman year and Marluxia's junior year, I had a girlfriend. She was smart, pretty, funny, and everything else anyone could ever want in a partner. She was in her sophomore year. I met her from… hanging out with Marluxia. He had helped me on my first day of high school. I hate to admit it, but we were once friends. She used to be friends with Marluxia too, but when we started dating she never had time to spend with him because she was always with me. Marluxia was jealous. He felt like I'd stolen her from him. So, he spread rumors that despite going out with her, I was cheating on her with a guy. So not only was I cheating on her, but I was gay. She believed him, her former best friend, over me, her boyfriend. She broke up with me and went back to talking with Marluxia. That is, until she moved away halfway through the year. I've never spoken to her since then, and I hope I don't ever have to. Now you know why you should never get involved with Marluxia."

Axel ended his story, feeling much better after telling someone he trusted about what had happened.

Roxas suddenly grabbed Axel around the neck and held him tight. He felt genuinely sorry for the redhead. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Hey, it's okay," Axel replied. "I've moved on. At the end of the year, I admitted to him that I did like guys, just to get back at him. And look at what I have now because of that."

Roxas smiled. "Lucky you," he laughed as he hugged Axel tighter. At that moment, he was at his happiest. All of the bad things he had been feeling earlier that night had melted away. For a minute, he even forgot about Marluxia and running away. All he thought about was Axel, and how he wanted to hold him forever.

Sunlight poured through the window in the small hospital room. Demyx held Zexion's hand tightly in his, waiting for the dark-haired boy to awaken at any moment.

Zexion's eyes fluttered. "Wha… where… where am I?" he muttered sleepily. He looked to his side, seeing someone sitting in a chair beside where he lay and holding his hand tenderly. "Who is that?" Zexion's vision was blurry, but it cleared up within moments. Demyx was smiling back at him. "Demyx…"

"Have a good nap?" Demyx laughed.

Zexion attempted to sit up in order to give Demyx a hug, but he was shot down by a searing pain in his chest. "Ouch… what is that?" he muttered.

"You broke two ribs when Xigbar kicked you," Demyx explained. "You need to stay as still as possible."

"Have my parents come by yet?" Zexion asked.

"The doctor said that they would come by later this evening," Demyx replied. He looked at the clock. "In fact, they should be here any minute. I stayed here with you last night." Demyx leaned close to Zexion and gave him a quick kiss. "I'd better get going. I'll be by later, okay?"

"'Kay," Zexion said. "See you then, Demyx."

"Bye, Zexy." Demyx closed the door behind him as he left.

Zexion lay in his hospital bed, his smile wide as he drifted back to sleep waiting for his family to stop by and see him.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Roxas opened his eyes at the sound of someone's voice at the door. He looked up and saw Demyx standing in the doorway, laughing at something in front of him.

Roxas looked around and then discovered that Axel had his arms around the blond, still asleep. Apparently, the two had fallen asleep talking and Axel had roped his arms around Roxas in the middle of the night.

Roxas, his face hot and red, pushed Axel off of him in an attempt to wake the redhead up. Axel slowly opened up his eyes and looked Roxas in the eyes.

"Morning, Roxy," he yawned. "Sleep well?" He kissed the blonde's cheek and sat up.

"Axel, your brother is watching us," Roxas whispered back.

"Let him watch, I don't care." Axel stretched his arms up and made his way to the door. "You hungry? I smell bacon down stairs."

Roxas couldn't resist the offer of food. He sleepily stood up and walked past Demyx and down the stairs to Axel's kitchen.

"Mmmm…" Axel murmured as he chewed a piece of bacon. "Thanks, Mom. Can we have toast too?"

Axel mother smiled and nodded. "Sure," she replied, going to the pantry for bread.

Axel's mother had close to the same hair color as her son, only a bit darker than Axel's. Her eyes were brown, and Roxas began to wonder where Axel's sharp green eyes came from. That is, until Axel's father walked in. He had brown hair and the same green eyes as his offspring. Axel also got his height from his father.

"Hey, Dad," Axel greeted his father. "This is Roxas. He moved into town at the start of the school year."

"Pleasure to meet you, Roxas," Axel's father held out his hand.

"Same here, sir," Roxas replied politely, shaking the man's hand.

"So, Demyx, how's Zexion?" Axel asked, biting into a piece of toast.

"He's okay," Demyx replied after swallowing his food. "He's in pain, but he's okay."

"Well, that's good," Roxas said.

After they ate, Roxas called his parents to come and pick him up. He didn't want to leave, but Axel had tutoring and Demyx had to help out with housework. Within minutes, his mother arrived.

"Axel," Roxas said as he helped clean up the mess they'd made in the redhead's room. "I'll get these pajamas back to you on Monday, 'kay?"

"Okay," Axel responded. "I think it's clean enough. You should go."

"Alright. I'll see you on Monday."

Axel pulled Roxas into a kiss. "See you Monday," he said.

Once again, Roxas left Axel's house with a smile plastered onto his face. He always left the redhead's house feeling better than when he'd arrived, and he hoped that the two could get together again soon.


	11. A Visit to the Hospital

Demyx walked down the sidewalk, his pace even but eager as he approached the hospital. He rode the elevator up and walked down the long hallway for a minute before stopping in front of a door. He stopped in front of the door for a moment, then entered the room, hiding something behind his back.

"Whatcha got there?" Zexion asked as Demyx walked over to his bedside. Zexion was now able to sit up by himself; he would be able to go home soon.

"Just a little something," the dirty-blond smiled and pulled a blood-red rose from behind his back. He handed it to the dark-haired boy, who smiled and took it with a gleam of happiness in his dark eyes.

"Thank you, Demyx," he said, throwing his arms around Demyx's neck. "I've got something for you too, you know. Come closer." Demyx leaned in. "Closer, Dem." Demyx got closer so their noses were almost touching. Zexion then leaned forward and let their lips touch, lingering for a few seconds before falling back onto his pillow.

"So, how'd it go with your parents?" Demyx asked.

"Fine," Zexion answered. "They were able to bring me some books, all of which I have already finished reading, and my laptop. I was able to check my email. My brother sent me an email when he heard I'd been hurt."

"Wait, did you say brother?" Demyx took a quick glance at the books Zexion had been brought. There were six books, all of which were as thick as History textbooks.

"Yeah. I guess I forgot to tell you."

"You're right about that," Demyx laughed.

"His name's Riku. He's a year older than me, but we're pretty close. This year, he decided to study at Destiny Island High. He got to meet his pen pal he's been writing to for a while, so he was pretty excited."

"Cool," Demyx then noticed a small television sitting on a set that hung from the ceiling. "Hey, where's the remote? Let's watch something."

"Over there," Zexion pointed to the table on the other side of his bed. He reached over and grabbed the remote, then handed it to Demyx.

Demyx took the remote and pushed the power button. The T.V. clicked on, and after that the two sat in silence, holding hands as they watched Criminal Minds.

The seconds, minutes, and hours sped by quickly as the two sat, just holding each other's hands. Demyx ventured a glance at the dark-haired boy, his eyes wandering to the boy's soft lips that were just begging to be kissed. _Won't hurt to try,_ he thought with a smile. Demyx leaned in closer to Zexion and first kissed his cheek. Zexion laughed and blushed. Zexion looked over at Demyx, who leaned in again to give Zexion another kiss.

"Is it safe… to say that we're… going out?" Demyx said in between kisses.

"Only… if it's okay… with you," Zexion responded. He felt Demyx bite his bottom lip playfully and he moaned.

"Oh, it's fine with me alright," Demyx laughed. He went to deepen the kiss but heard Zexion yelp.

"Ow, Demyx, you're leaning on my chest. I'm not fully healed yet."

"Sorry, Zexy."

"It's alright," Zexion reassured him. "I'm fine."

"I'd better be going." Demyx ended their kiss. "I've been here for a while."

"You can stay tonight if you want," Zexion said. He didn't want to be left.

"Nah, I'd keep you up all night talking. You're almost ready to leave, and I want you out of here as soon as possible. We'll do something when you're outta here."

"Okay." As Demyx reached for the door handle, Zexion stopped him with another question. "Did you guys get to go out on Halloween night?"

Demyx turned to his boyfriend. "No," he answered. "We didn't go. It wouldn't have been the same without you."

Zexion smiled a bit. "See you later."

"Bye." With that, Demyx left the dark-haired boy in the hospital room, the T.V. still playing a cop show marathon.

"Your handwriting's getting better," Roxas said. He was standing outside the math classroom, handing Luxord his playing cards with notes on them. Despite the improvement in handwriting, Roxas still couldn't read what was written.

"Sorry, Roxas," Luxord replied, taking his cards.

"Couldn't you just tell me what it is you want to know?"

"No."

"Do you have a reason?" Roxas inquired.

"Not really…" Luxord laughed a bit.

Roxas sighed. "Fine, do what you want." He walked away, descending a flight of stairs to the hallway where his locker was.

"Don't worry about Luxord," A voice said. "His handwriting's always been bad. Even when we were kids."

Roxas looked up to see a blond female walking straight towards him. She wore a pink top with white jeans and several expensive looking pieces of jewelry. Her blond hair was short, parts of it were slicked back into what looked like insect feelers. _That has got to be the weirdest hairstyle I've ever seen,_ Roxas thought.

"I'm Larxene, but you should already know that by now," she said, not bothering to look the boy in the eyes, as if he was not worthy to be in her presence.

"I'm Roxas," he responded. He turned back to his locker, expecting her to leave him.

"Luxord's my baby brother," she continued. "He was an accident, you know."

Roxas looked up at her. "What?"

She smiled. "Our parents decide to have a little fun and end up with another baby. They were going to get an abortion, but I wanted a sibling. And so, Luxord was born." She walked away, leaving Roxas in a state of total confusion.

"How did you know that?" Axel asked. He had just gotten his driver's license and was giving Roxas a ride home after school. "The only people Lux's ever told are Xaldin, Xigbar, and myself."

"Larxene came up to me today and told me," Roxas replied. "I don't know what she was trying to accomplish by telling me."

"I don't know either." The two were silent for a minute before Axel continued. "Luxord's the only person she's actually nice to, besides Marluxia."

"Really?" Roxas questioned.

"Really," Axel laughed. "She really loves him as a sibling."

"I can't imagine her being nice,"

"Yeah, me neither."

Axel finally pulled into Roxas's driveway and put the car in park. "Here we are," he said. The redhead walked the blond to the door and said his goodbyes before returning to his car. Just as he was about to pull out of the driveway, Roxas reappeared in the doorway.  
"Axel!" he called. "Come inside! There's someone I want you to meet!"

**Well, there you go. Sorry it took a while. I've been tired and busy lately, but I've found time for writing. **

**Criminal Minds is my favorite TV show. I see Zexion as a 'Spencer Reid' kind of guy. Haha.**


	12. Meeting Sora

"Your brother's in town?" Axel asked. He was waling into Roxas's house, getting ready to meet the blonde's sibling.

"Yeah, he's on winter break," Roxas replied. "His school lets the students go home for holidays to see family."

The two entered the living room of Roxas's house. Sitting on the couch was Sora, the brother Axel had been told so much about. His hair was dark brown and less spiky than Roxas's, but after a closer look, it was obvious that the two were siblings. They were about the same height, Sora being maybe an inch taller. They had the same face structure, and they shared the blue eyes that Axel admired on Roxas so much.

"So you're Axel," Sora said as he stood up. "I'm Sora, Roxas's older brother."

"You're only older by a few minutes!" Roxas shouted. He punched him on the arm.

The redhead laughed. "Yep, I'm Axel. So you're Sora, huh?"

"The one and only!"

"What're you even doing here?" Roxas asked. "I said I'd visit you during my break."

"Well, my break just happened to come sooner than yours," Sora replied. "You're still in school, right?"

"Until the end of the week, yeah." The blond answered. "So how're Riku and Kairi?"

"Well, Riku came with me to see family he's got here. I told you his brother goes to your school."

Roxas looked at Axel. "Does anyone have sibling that go to another school?"

Axel shook his head. "Zexion, I think." He responded.

"That's the name!" Sora exclaimed. "Zexion! Riku told me about him once or twice, I just couldn't remember the name."

"So…" Roxas whistled, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. "How's Kairi?"

Sora laughed. "She's fine…"

"Why didn't you bring her?"

"She's visiting her sisters, Naminé and Xion. They live in Radiant Garden."

Axel intruded on the conversation. "Who's Kairi?"

"Sora's girlfriend!" Roxas replied. "Show him a picture!"

Sora pulled out his wallet. He took out a small picture of himself and a redheaded girl dressed in a cute pink dress. "She's pretty," Axel said, handing the picture back to Sora.

"Yeah, she is," Sora said, blushing slightly. "Hey, Roxy, where's Paws?"

"He's around here somewhere," Roxas replied. "Go look for him yourself. And don't call me that!"

"Fine," Sora sighed. He left Roxas with Axel in the living room.

"Who's Paws?" Axel asked.

"He's our cat," Roxas responded. "We've had him since we were children. Sora wanted to take him to school with him, but the school doesn't allow pets, except for fish."

"Found him!" Sora cried as he came into the living room, clutching a pudgy black and white cat. "He's purring so loudly!"

"Must've missed you," Roxas laughed.

"Did you miss me, Paws?" Sora cooed as though he were talking to a baby. He kissed the cat on its head. "Huh? Did ya? I bet you did!"

"Sora, stop, you're scaring me," Roxas begged. Paws let out a soft mew of agreement. "See, he's scared too."

"Guess he didn't miss you that much," Axel said and all three boys laughed. Paws wriggled his way out of Sora's arms and padded over to Axel. He rubbed his body on the redhead's leg, then walked into the kitchen where his bowl was waiting for him on the floor.

"Well, I'd better get going," Axel admitted. "See you later, Roxas. Nice meeting you, Sora."

"Nice to meet you too!" Sora replied.

"See ya, Axel," Roxas said with a smile.

Axel left the two in the foyer. They watched from out of the window as he started his new car, backed out of the driveway, and drove down the street.

"Hey Roxas," Sora began. "Remember in your letter to me when you asked if you could bring a friend when you came to visit?"

"Yeah, why?" Roxas asked.

"Would you have brought Axel?"

"Well, yeah, he's my best friend."

Sora walked into the kitchen and went to the refrigerator. He opened the door, grabbed the container of milk, and began drinking from it. Typical teenage behavior. "So, do you have your eyes on anyone at school?" he asked, taking another sip of milk before putting it back in the fridge.

"No," Roxas replied, thinking of Axel. "Not really."

Sora paused for a moment. "Can I trust you with a secret, Roxas?"

"Of course you can. What's up?"

Sora cleared his throat. "So, you know how I'm going out with Kairi?" Roxas nodded. "And Riku is my best friend?" Again, the blond nodded. "Well… how do I put this… um… Riku an I are more than friends now."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Sora sighed. "I mean that I'm dating Riku too."

"Woah," Roxas said. "She's gonna find out about this you know." Sora gave him a glare. "But not from me, that is. Riku knows that you and Kairi are dating, right?"

"Yeah, and he's okay with it for some reason," Sora replied. "He came on to me first, I swear."

"So how's that been going?"

"Okay, I guess. We've kept it a secret for this long. I don't know how much longer we can, though…" Sora sighed deeply. "I'm in such a mess. Maybe I should just break up with Kairi."

"You'd rather be with Riku?" Roxas asked.

Sora thought for a minute. "Yeah, I guess I would." There was a long pause, where neither young man spoke to the other. Sora broke the silence. "Hey, do you still have the gaming systems?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Good, you didn't get rid of any of them," Sora sighed. Roxas knew that Sora loved video games. If Roxas got rid of a game or system without Sora's permission, he would be dead. "Let's play!"

"Alright!" The boys ran up the stairs and into Roxas's room. "You know, you can take one of the systems back with you, if you want. I don't play much."

"Really?" Sora said excitedly.

"Yeah, take your pick. But you can't have the 360, Wii, or PS2."

"Fine," Sora growled. "I'll take the classic Xbox."

"It's all yours," Roxas agreed.

The two boys laughed and played for hours. Roxas enjoyed the time with his brother, even though he was in town for another two weeks.

After countless hours of intense gaming, the two stopped playing. Sora went up to Roxas's room and poked around, looking over the pictures his brother had up on his bulletin board.

"Who are these guys?" the brunette asked his brother, plucking the photo from the board. The bright green thumbtack that held it in place fell to the floor.

Roxas took the photo from Sora. It was of the group at lunch. Lexaeus had taken it one day at the beginning of the year. "These are my friends," he replied. He pointed to the redhead in the middle. "You know Axel." Next, he pointed to a dirty blond boy and a dark-headed boy next to him. "That's Demyx and Zexion. My friend Lexaeus was the one taking the picture."

Sora returned to the board. "And what about them?" he said, taking another picture, this one of Axel's close friends.

"Axel too this one," Roxas said with a smile. "That's Luxord, and Xaldin," Roxas pointed to the blond man and the dark-haired dreadlocked man next to him. He then pointed to the final man in the picture. "And that's Xigbar."

Sora smiled. "You've got some interesting friends," he laughed. He then spotted a series of photos of his brother and Axel. "Hey! These came from the photo booth in the mall! Remember when we used to take pictures in the one at the Destiny Island mall?"

"Yeah!" Roxas exclaimed. "God, we had so much fun taking silly pictures."  
"You and Axel are really good friends, aren't you?" Sora asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Roxas smiled back widely. "We really are."


	13. Zexion's Return

"Well, look who's back!" Axel called as he spotted a familiar dark-headed boy walking through the school's white double doors. The boy still had bandages wrapped around his arms covering the stitches on his cuts. "You feelin' okay, kid?"

"Yeah," Zexion replied with a smile. "Hey, is Demyx around?"

"He's probably at his locker. Does he know you're here?"

"No, I told him I was getting out later than this. I wanted to surprise him."

Zexion walked happily down the stairs to the building's bottom floor where the freshmen lockers were. After a short walk down the hall, he spotted Demyx talking to Roxas. His back was turned to the dark-headed boy.

_Perfect,_ Zexion thought. _I can surprise him._

Zexion walked slowly and silently. Roxas saw him, but Zexion pressed a finger to his lips. Roxas gave a small understanding nod and turned back to Demyx, who was still rambling on about something.

Zexion crept up quietly behind the dirty blond, then struck quickly. He stood on his toes (he was much taller than the dark-haired young man) and placed his hands over Demyx's eyes.

"Guess who?" he asked, changing the pitch in his voice, trying to hide his identity.

"Well, you're having trouble keeping your hands over my eyes," Demyx began with a laugh. "So I'm guessing you're rather short."

"I'm not short!" Zexion blurted, blowing his cover.

"Gotcha," Demyx said, removing Zexion's hands from his sea-green eyes. He held the dark-headed boy's hands in his as he spoke. "I thought you were getting out later." He gave the shorter boy a quick hug.

"I wanted to surprise you," Zexion said, hugging Demyx back. "I'm feeling great. Doctor says that I just have to be careful with my arms 'cause I've got stitches there."

"Well, I'll leave you two to talk," Roxas said as he walked away from the two.

"So? How've you been?" Demyx asked, walking the dark-haired boy to his locker.

"Good," Zexion replied as he entered his combination on the lock. "I got to see my brother. He came to visit for winter break."

"Is he still here?"

"Yeah. His school let out a week earlier."

"Hey don't exams start tomorrow?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?" Zexion was pulling textbooks out of his backpack and placing them in his locker.

"Shit! I forgot to study!" Demyx cursed, slapping himself on the forehead.

"You've had all this time leading up to this week, and you forgot to study?" Zexion asked.

"Well, you usually study with me, and since you've been in the hospital I haven't been studying."

"You could've always brought the materials to the hospital so we could study there."

"Yeah, I could've…" Demyx leaned against the lockers behind him. "I'm so stupid…"

"No, Demyx," Zexion said, putting the lock back on his locker. He took a hold of both of Demyx's hands. "You're not stupid, Dem."

"Then why are my grades so bad? Why have I forgotten to study?"

"You're improving! And, you just need motivation. You do really well when we're together. Studying by yourself probably just doesn't work for you as well."

Demyx smiled. "You think so, Zexy?"

"Think so?" Zexion smiled back. "Dem, I _know_ so."

Zexion gave the blond a kiss. In the background, someone whistled and another person yelled, "Get a room!"

Zexion pulled away from his boyfriend, still smiling. "Why don't we study today after school? In the library?"

"Sound's good," Demyx replied. The first bell sounded, and he quickly kissed Zexion before running off to class. "See you then!" he yelled down the hall.

"Okay!" Zexion yelled back. "See ya!"

"Demyx. Demyx!" a voice snapped. "Wake up!"

"Huh?" Demyx mumbled as he sat up. Drool was running down his chin. He had been having a dream about Zexion. He was just about to kiss his boyfriend when he was so rudely woken from his dream.

"Stay awake and pay attention!" Principal Xemnas snapped again.

"Sorry, sir," the dirty blond replied groggily. "It won't happen again."

Xemnas only gave him a disapproving look before returning to the board for a review. "Now students," he began. "When solving equations, what method do we use?"

Zexion raised his hand.

"Anyone _else_?"

No answer.

"Zexion…" Xemnas mumbled reluctantly.

"P.E.M.D.A.S." Zexion answered.

"Correct. Everybody else, what does that stand for?" Nobody answered, and Xemnas gave up. "Parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. That's right, class!"

Someone whispered loudly, "He's losing it, guys."

Xemnas pretended that he hadn't heard the student and continued the review. "That is the order in which we…"

Demyx shut his teacher out and looked at Zexion, who was quietly taking notes. _He is so smart…_ Demyx thought. _And so cute too…_

"Demyx!" Something hit the musician in the head.

"Ow! What the hell?" He looked around. The principal had thrown a crumpled up piece of paper at him.

"This is your last warning," Principal Xemnas scolded. "Stop spacing off and taking naps. Take notes instead."

"Yes, sir," Demyx replied quietly, pulling out a notebook and a pen.

"You really should pay more attention in class," Zexion said to his boyfriend as they sat down to eat lunch.

"I was too busy daydreaming about you," Demyx replied sweetly.

"Oh, were you," Zexion laughed back, kissing Demyx.

"Hey, hey, not at lunch you two," Axel commanded as he sat down with them. Roxas followed behind him.

"Hey Zexion, Roxas greeted his dark-haired friend. "Good to see you back."

"Good to be back, Roxas," Zexion replied with a smile.

The four of them talked and chatted for a few minutes before they were approached by another person.

"Is there room for one more?" a voice asked.

Everyone turned to look towards the source of the voice. No one spoke for a moment, then Axel broke the silence.

"There's always room for you here, Lex."

"Thanks, Axel." Lexaeus sat in between Axel and Demyx at the table.

Demyx patted the football player on the shoulder. "Good to have you back too," he smiled.

"Thanks, Demyx," Lexaeus replied. He looked at Zexion, who was smiling at him.

"Good to see you," the dark-haired boy said.

"You too." They sat in silence for another moment before Lexaeus began talking again. "Well, I have some news I wanted to share with you guys."

"What's going on?" Roxas asked.

"My dad was really sick, and was getting worse with each day. I was so worried about him. I almost gave up. But, I wanted to tell you guys first, he's cancer-free now."

"Oh my God, Lex, that's great!" Axel shouted.

"My mom and I were able to bring him home yesterday, and he's going back to work after the holiday break."

"That's awesome!" Demyx and Roxas said at the same time.

"I'm happy for you, Lexaeus," Zexion told the brunette.

"Thanks, guys," Lexaeus said.

"Hey," Axel slapped his friend on the back. "We're here for you, buddy. Whenever you need us."


	14. Axel's Surprise Visit

"Look, I'm really sorry. It's just not working out, Kai- Please stop crying, Kairi. I said I'm sorry! Urg! You are so difficult! You know-"

"Sora!"

"Hang on." Sora held his hand over the phone so that he could yell at his brother. "What, Roxas?"

"Go outside and yell at her. I'm trying to work here!" Roxas yelled back.

"Well, sorry, mister I'm-doing-homework-in-the-kitchen-instead-of-using-the-desk-in-my-room! I will go outside! Sorry to bother you." Sora turned and stormed out of the house and resumed yelling at Kairi. Roxas could still hear him.

_God, he is_ _so_ _loud sometimes,_ he thought before returning to his exam review.

Moments later, Sora reentered the house and immediately went to Roxas for comfort.

"I broke up with her," he said. Sora stood still, looking at Roxas for a minute before he suddenly burst out in tears and held out his arms. "I need a hug…" he cried.

Roxas put down his pencil and walked over to his brother. "Hey, it's okay," he sighed, giving his brother a hug. "Uh, think about all the bad stuff. You said she was difficult, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did say that."

"And think about all the good things Riku can give you."

"He is my best friend…"

"Yeah, you see?"

"Yeah, I get it," Sora replied, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "I feel better now."

"Good. Just think bad about Kairi and good about Riku, okay?" Roxas said.

"I'm gonna call him. Right now!"

_Wow, I'm good at this whole 'comforting' thing,_ the blond thought with a smile. "And what're you gonna say?"

"I'm gonna ask him if he wants to hang out on Christmas!"

"What about family? We were gonna watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer…. Your favorite Christmas movie."

Sora thought for a moment. "New Year's it is, then." He replied.

Roxas smiled and laughed. "Okay then, go call him."

"I'm scared."

"Sora…"

"But Roxas, I'm nervous!"

"Sometimes you act like the younger of us two. I swear, I'm the older twin."

"No way, I'm the older twin!" Sora snapped.

"Then act like the older twin and call him! Now!" Roxas snapped back.

"Well…" Sora hesitated as he picked up the phone.

"I'll stay right here with you…" Roxas sighed.

"Okay!" Sora perked up.

_Why haven't Mom and Dad gotten him tested for ADD yet?_ Roxas thought as his brother dialed Riku's number on the phone.

The phone rang for a few moments before someone answered. "Hello?" someone said.

"Hi, this is Sora. Is Riku there?"

"Yeah, let me get him for you. RIKU!"

"Who is that?" Roxas asked.

"Must be his brother," Sora whispered.

"Hey, Sora." Riku's voice sounded from the phone and without knowing it, Sora wandered away from Roxas to continue his conversation in another room.

"Hey, Riku! Yeah, I was just wondering…"

Roxas smiled. He was happy for his brother. He finally had a date. Maybe they could double-date sometime…

Roxas was suddenly ripped away from his thoughts when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" he yelled. Sora was still on the phone with Riku. Roxas walked to the front of the house and opened the door.

"Hey," Axel greeted. He was dressed just as he had been at school. Black t-shirt, dark gray skinny jeans, black Vans shoes, and a black and white scarf around his neck.

"Axel, what're you doing here?" Roxas asked, happy to see his friend. "We just saw each other at school a few hours ago. What's up?"

"I needed something to do, so I came here. And Demyx was annoying me." Axel replied. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." Roxas invited his friend inside of his house. "My parents aren't home. That annoying noise you hear is my brother on the phone with his friend. Come on, let's go upstairs." Roxas led the redhead up the stairs and into his room. He shut the door behind the two of them.

"So…" Axel began, taking a look around the room as he spoke. "What've you been doing in the hours that we've been apart?"

"Studying."

"What do you mean-" Axel stopped himself. "Oh, right. Exams tomorrow."

"Haven't you studied any?" Roxas asked, taking a seat on his unmade bed.

"Yeah, a little. Demyx is out of the house every other day studying with Zexion, so I get some peace and quiet then."

"Oh, yeah, I meant to ask you something earlier. What's the deal with those two? Are they in a relationship?"

"I haven't really asked Demyx about it yet. I think they are though."

"You know, I was kind of wondering about our relationship," Roxas said. "I mean, are we dating? Or could this just be a fling? Are we really… in love?"

"Do you want to be a couple?" Axel asked. "I wouldn't mind being together."

"If it's okay with you…" Roxas replied.

"But what I want to know is if it's okay with _you_," Axel said as he walked over to the blond. He took a seat on the bed next to him. "I love you, Roxas." Axel began to lean in towards Roxas. Instinctively, Roxas leaned back until he was laying flat and Axel was over him.

"Axel…" Roxas mumbled softly as Axel leaned in more.

"I did it!" a voice boomed from the door. "Did ya hear that, Roxas? I'm going out with Riku! I'm-"

Both boys on the bed looked up. Sora was standing in the doorway, gazing at the scene before him.

"Um…" the brunette stammered. "Am I interrupting something?"  
Axel sat up. "No, I need to get going anyways," he said as he made his way to the door. "See you, Roxas." With that, he left.

"Sorry, Roxas," Sora apologized.

"No, it's okay," Roxas began to tear up a little, but Sora couldn't tell. "We weren't doing anything. He just… fell, really. It's okay."

"Okay, well, I'm going to watch TV. Join me if you want."

"'Kay."

Sora left, closing the door behind him. When Roxas was sure that his brother was downstairs, he began to sob.

_Axel always kisses me before we part ways,_ the blond thought. _Why didn't he this time?_

**Hey everyone! I'm alive, don't worry! I don't like making excuses, but I will this time. I went on vacation for a week and the internet didn't want to work where I was, so I'm sorry about that.**

**I'm starting school soon, so I'll probably be really busy a lot of the time, but I promise that I'll write whenever I can.**


	15. Brotherly Bonding

"Merry Christmas, Zexy!"

"Huh?" Zexion spun around to see his spunky boyfriend holding out a beautifully wrapped gift. The paper surrounding the box was a nice dark purple and the bow was black; two of Zexion's favorite colors.

"Dem, is this for me?" the dark-haired boy asked.

"Yup!" Demyx sang. " I wrapped it myself. I hope you like it!"

Zexion took the box and removed the bow, stuffing the ribbon in his pocket. He then gingerly removed the dark purple paper to reveal a white box. He gave the paper to Demyx, who held it for him as he opened the box. Inside was a whimsical Santa hat, and under the hat was a book.

"Wow, Demyx, thank you," Zexion said, admiring his gifts. "I've never herd of this book before."  
"I read it a while ago and liked it, so I thought maybe you would enjoy it too," Demyx replied, taking the hat and placing it on his boyfriend's head. He then pulled out his camera and stood next to Zexion. "Cheese!" he shouted before snapping the picture.

"Well, I'd like to thank you, but I don't have anything to give you…" Zexion sighed. "I was so busy studying for my exams. I'm so sorry, Demyx."

"You don't need to give me anything," Demyx said, grabbing both of Zexion's hands. "Just having you around is enough for me."

"No, I want to give you something."

"How about a kiss?" Demyx pointed up.

"Ha," Zexion laughed. "Mistletoe." It was the end of the day, exams were over, and it was time for winter break, so there weren't many students roaming the halls at this time. In fact, no one else was in the hall that the couple was occupying at the moment, so Zexion went for the kiss. He looped his arms around the dirty blonde's neck and pressed their lips together. Demyx wrapped his own arms around the smaller young man and lifted him up slightly so that Zexion was now on his toes.

Demyx was just about to slip his tongue into his boyfriend's mouth when someone interrupted their moment together.

"Sorry to bother you," Lexaeus muttered. "But I need to talk to Zexion for a minute."

"Oh, it's alright," Demyx lied. "I really need to get going anyways." He quickly kissed Zexion again before walking down the long hallway and up the stairs.

Zexion watched him go with a sigh. "What do you need?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out on New Year's," the brunette asked. "There will be other people there, of course."

"Sure," Zexion replied. _It could've waited though…_ he thought. "I'm gonna get going now."

"See you then," Lex said. "Have a good break."

"You too," the dark-headed young man replied before leaving the building.

Demyx sank down in the bean bag chair with a sigh. He picked up the game controller and began to take his anger out on some unfortunate zombies.

"I swear, every single time I try to have a moment with Zexion, something ruins it," he growled. Axel sat beside him, listening to his brother vent. "First, I accidentally hurt him when we were in the hospital, and today we were interrupted by Lex."

"Try to get him alone," Axel advised. "Bring him over here and take him to your room."

Demyx paused the game. He sighed deeply. "Well, you see… no, this is gonna sound really stupid."

"Hey, I'm not gonna say a thing to anyone. We're brothers. We keep each other's secrets."

Demyx sighed again. "I'm afraid that we'll get caught up in the moment and take it too far. I know I'm still a kid, and kids make stupid mistakes, but that's one I don't want to make. Not at this age."

Axel smiled and patted his brother on the shoulder. "You're a good kid, Dem," he said.

"Thanks, Axel."

"Now, back to getting him alone," Axel continued as Demyx un-paused the game.

"You've got other ideas?"

"Well, sure," the redhead said. "There's changing rooms, restroom stalls, you know, that's what those extra big stalls are for: making out with people."

"I'm pretty sure those are for handicapped people, Ax," Demyx laughed.

"Think what you want, Demyx." The doorbell suddenly rang out.

"Pizza's here!" Demyx exclaimed, handing his controller to Axel. "I'll get sodas too." He then pointed at the TV screen and looked at Axel sternly. "Do not die," he growled before leaving the redhead alone.

Demyx ran down the stairs and grabbed some money their parents had left them on the table before they had left to go out for dinner. He quickly opened the door, his stomach growling for food.

"That'll be ten dollars," the pizza guy said, keeping his face down the entire time he spoke.

"Thanks," Demyx replied, handing the man the money and taking the large, warm box. As he went to lift the pizza from the other man's hands, the corner of the box caught the delivery man's hat and knocked it to the ground. "Lemme get that for you," Demyx said, grabbing the hat from the floor. As he handed it to the man, he was shocked at who he saw. "Vexen?"

"Oh, dear," Vexen muttered, grabbing his hat from Demyx and running for his car.

"Wait!" the freshman yelled at the junior. "You forgot your money!"

Vexen quickly came back, grabbed the money and begged, "Do not tell anyone!" before running off again.

Demyx calmly shut the door and grabbed two cans of soda before returning to his older brother. He was completely silent the entire walk up the stairs and down the hallway. As soon as he entered the room, he busted out in loud laughter.

"What?" Axel asked with a smile. "What happened? Who was that?"

Demyx set down the food and drinks before he dropped them from laughing do hard. "It was… it was…" he could barely finish his sentence between laughs.

Axel walked over to his brother and grabbed his shoulders. "Spit it out, man!" he yelled, shaking Demyx violently.

"IT WAS VEXEN!"

"What the hell? Are you serious?"

"YES!"

"No way!"

Demyx couldn't answer his brother that time he was laughing much to hard to talk anymore. When the finally settled down and began to eat, Demyx said, "You can't tell anyone though."

"Why not?" Axel replied through a mouthful of pizza.

"'Cause he begged me not to."

"But Demyx," Axel began, setting down his half-eaten piece of pizza so that he could talk. "This is a vital piece of gossip! We should spread this around!"

"Yeah, but Vexen doesn't have any friends," Demyx answered. He took a sip of his soda before continuing. "Plus, he would be after me if anyone else knew."

"What could Vexen possibly do to you?" Axel laughed, finishing his fifth slice.

"Concoct some kind of chemical with his scientific knowledge that would blow me up."

"You have a point there, my brother." Axel sighed. "And I would be very upset if you exploded.


	16. New Years

"You sure do like to stop by without telling me," Roxas said with a smile as a guest appeared on his doorstep.

"Sorry," Axel replied, stepping into the house. He removed his wet boots from his feet and left them by the door. Roxas took his coat and hung it on the rack, along with his red scarf. "I really needed to get something off of my mind."

"Sure. What's bugging you?"

Axel looked around. He could Hear Roxas's noisy brother talking to someone on the phone in the kitchen. "Can we go somewhere private?" he asked in a whisper.

"Uh, sure," the blond said, leading Axel up to his room. Roxas was uncomfortable having Axel in his bedroom after what happened last time he came over. He let Axel into his room and closed the door behind them, making sure to lock it this time. "What's up?"

Axel sighed and began to speak. "I'm sorry," he said simply. "I'm sorry for messing with you like that last time I was here."

"No, I should be sorry," Roxas said, awkwardly looking down at his feet.

"Why?" Axel asked. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"Not giving you an answer," the blond replied. "All you wanted was simple yes or no, and I just made it more complicated then it needed to be."

Axel began rubbing his eyes, as if he was trying to fight back oncoming tears. Roxas quickly ran up to him and held him close.

"I've made up my mind," he said quietly. "I want to be your boyfriend."

"What?" Axel murmured. "Really?"

"Yeah," Roxas replied, looking up at the redhead. "Axel, I… I love you."

Axel smiled. "I thought you'd never tell me." The two pressed their lips together and kissed quietly.

A sudden scratching from the other side of the door caused the two to break apart suddenly. Roxas went to the door.

"Sora!" he began to yell as he unlocked it. "Go away or I-" Roxas opened the door to reveal a large black and white cat on the other side. Paws meowed and made his way into the blonde's room, hopping up onto the bed and curling up in the sheets.

A yell suddenly came from downstairs. "Did you call me, Roxy?"

"Nope! Sorry! And stop calling me that!" Roxas shut his door with a laugh and went to pet his cat. Axel sat next to him.

"I'd better be going," he admitted, giving the blond a kiss.

"I wish you didn't…" Roxas murmured.

"Sorry, I was only supposed to go the store and back home, but I made a stop here."

"I'll see you later then."

"See ya," Axel kissed Roxas again, then headed for the door.

Roxas acted the complete opposite of his brother on Christmas morning. He sleepily walked down the stairs having been woken up by Sora's loud ravings about the gifts and surprises that awaited in the brightly wrapped boxes. Roxas wasn't really wanting anything in particular this year. He didn't care if all he got was socks and underwear.

"Walk faster, Roxas!" Sora yelled at him from the bottom of the steps. Roxas nearly tripped on the last step, but Sora caught him and proceeded to drag him into the living room where the tree was set up. As the day went by, Roxas woke up little by little. He was happy with every gift he got. Sora was ecstatic.

The days flew by quickly, and before the blond knew it, New Year's had finally arrived. Sora had left for Riku's and Roxas was headed for the local teen club where he was meeting with his friends.

As he approached the club, he noticed Demyx and Zexion standing in the line outside. They were both up ear the front, so Roxas slipped up there quietly to meet them. As he approached the two of them, he saw Axel's bright red hair behind them.

"Hey, Roxas!" Demyx greeted. He and Zexion were holding hands and standing close, combating the cold together. Zexion waved to the blond with his free hand.

Axel grabbed a hold of his lover's hand as soon as he approached. "Hey there, Roxy," he said, placing a sweet kiss on the blonde's cold forehead.

"Hi, Axel," Roxas replied, his face becoming warm as Axel's lips touched his skin. "Have a good Christmas?"

Roxas nodded. "Sora and I got another cat," he said.

Demyx's eyes lit up. "I love kitty cats!" he squealed. "I wish we could have one, but our dad is allergic. Can I come see him sometime?"

"Sure, Demyx," Roxas laughed. "He's just a kitten and Paws seems to like him. We named him Pounce."

"I got a bass guitar," Zexion piped up from behind his purple scarf that covered most of his face. "I've been wanting to learn how to play for the longest time."

"We should start a band!" Demyx shouted. "We all play instruments, and both Axel and myself sing."

Axel shrugged. "It's a possibility," he murmured, shivering from the cold.

After excited chatter about gifts and music, the four finally got inside the teen club. They set down all their winter wear in a safe place and moved around the club in search for others. Lex joined them moments later.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, approaching the group. "I got caught up in helping take down Christmas lights around the house."

"Hey, it's alright," Axel reassured. "You're here now aren't you?"

Lexaeus smiled and the group moved to table to sit and chat for a few minutes.

"I'm going to get a drink. Want anything, Axel?" Roxas asked as he stood up.

"Water's fine," the redhead replied.

As Roxas approached the bar for their drinks, he bumped into someone. "Sorry," he apologized.

"It's alright," the other teen replied. His hair was brown, shaggy and wavy. His eyes matched his hair. "Say, you're kinds cute. What's your name?"

"R-Roxas," the blond stammered. "I should probably be getting back to-" Roxas began to walk away, but the teen grabbed his wrist. _He's strong, _Roxas thought.

"Wait a minute, blondie," he said. "You haven't asked for my name yet."

Roxas jerked his arm away from the brunette. "Like I care," he huffed, walking off.

The brunette followed him. "I just want to get to know you!" he exclaimed, stepping in front of Roxas and grabbing his shoulders.

"If you're trying to hit on me, it's not working," Roxas shouted. "I don't like jerks. And I already have a boyfriend." Roxas tried to walk away again, but the other teen would not let go.

"You aren't going anywhere," he growled, lowering his face right in front of Roxas.

"Let him go!" someone yelled.

"Axel!" Roxas exclaimed.

The redhead came to his boyfriend's rescue. He yanked the blond away from the brunette and flipped him off before walking back to their table.

"Nice rescue, Ax," Demyx praised as his brother sat down with them again.

"Thanks, Axel," Roxas said, holding on to his boyfriend.

"Anytime, Roxas," Axel replied, holding him tighter.

After hours of talking, dancing, loud music, and wild partying, the countdown had arrived.

"Five… Four…" the crowd chanted. Axel held Roxas close, wanting to be next to the one he loved in the first second of the new year.

"Three…"

"Demyx, where are we going?" Zexion asked as Demyx dragged him away from the crowd.

"You'll see," Demyx replied. He pulled Zexion into the club's restroom and into the extra large stall, just like Axel had told him to. The crowd's chanting could still be heard from outside.

"What'd you bring me here for?"

Demyx smiled. "So we can finally have a decent moment alone." Zexion returned his smile, pulling the dirty blond close.

"Two… One… HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Axel quickly pulled Roxas into a kiss, right in front of the huge crowd. But for some reason, Roxas didn't care at all and he kissed the redhead back.

Back in the restroom stall, Zexion and Demyx were exchanging small kisses that lengthened into long ones. They kissed for what seemed like hours until they were both breathing hard and longing for air to breathe.

Demyx smiled at his boyfriend. "I'm glad we finally got our time alone," he huffed, holding the smaller boy close.

"Yeah," Zexion smiled back, resting his head on Demyx's chest. "Me too, Dem."


End file.
